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Swarajya Staff
Dec 20, 2017, 04:56 PM | Updated 04:56 PM IST
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Bollywood actress Sunny Leone, who was supposed to be part of a New Year’s performance in Bengaluru has now decided to pull herself out of it, reports The Hindu.
Leone tweeted out that she was not going to be part of the event as the city’s police department had ‘publicly’ refused to take responsibility for her safety.
Since the police of Bangalore have publicly said that they will not be able to ensure mine & all who attend safety for my New Years event,my team & I feel,safety of the people should always come first therefore I cannot attend.God bless & I wish everyone a safe & happy New Year!
— Sunny Leone (@SunnyLeone) December 19, 2017
The event – which was to be held in the White Orchid Resort in Manyata Tech Park – was to feature other performers including the Progressive Brothers, DJ Vilas Monnappa and Kannada rap performers All OK.
Earlier, members of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike (KRV) had protested against the event, claiming that Leone was degrading Indian and Kannada culture, and threatened ‘mass suicide’ if the event got permission.
The Bengaluru City Police refused to give permission for the event claiming that New Year’s Eve would be a busy day and that the police would be busy in security arrangements around the city. Incidentally, during New Year celebrations last year, reports of molestation of women near M G Road in the city’s centre raised questions on the efficiency with which the police was doing its job. The event promoters meanwhile filed a write petition at the High Court of Karnataka seeking permission to continue with the event.
Bengaluru Mayor Sampath Raj, on the other hand, said that it was left to the police and the organisers to decide what to do.
Everyone has right to ask things. If they want to go to Court they can. It's up to police & BBMP if they want to do it: Sampath Raj, Bengaluru Mayor on organisers of a New Year event, where Sunny Leone was also about to take part, moving to K'taka HC against denial of permission pic.twitter.com/WJkRU4XctE
— ANI (@ANI) December 19, 2017
The Congress government in Karnataka hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory with its handling of this event given that it was a private party that was planning the event and that the state had no business to interfere unless it was a violation of law.
This kind of moral isn’t new to the grand old party. A senior Congress leader had twitted against Leone two years ago calling her a ‘Western Reject’ and saying that she shouldn’t be allowed in to mainstream cinema.